Desborough

Desborough
Desborough  Desborough shown within Northamptonshire
Population	10,697 (Parish)
OS grid reference	SP805835
Civil parish	Desborough
District	Kettering
Shire county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KETTERING
Postcode district	NN14
Dialling code	01536
Police	Northamptonshire
Fire	Northamptonshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Kettering
List of places UK England Northamptonshire

Coordinates: 52°26′23″N 0°49′02″W / 52.4398°N 0.8172°W / 52.4398; -0.8172

Desborough is a town in Northamptonshire, England. It is located in the Ise Valley, between Market Harborough and Kettering. In the 19th century, the town was an industrial centre for weaving and shoe making. It has a long association with the Co-operative movement.^[1] Modern Desborough is a residential centre, with new homes and industry being developed to the north of the old town centre.

History

Desborough developed around the spinning and weaving industries, by the nineteenth century specialising in silk. Many archaeological finds from the Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon periods have been made in the town, some of which are in the collections of the British Museum.

Desborough's origins lie in the Bronze Age some 2000 years BC. Urns from this period have been found in and around the town. The most important archaeological find was the 1st Century Desborough Mirror which is now in the British Museum,^[2][3] as is an Anglo-Saxon necklace known as the Desborough Necklace,^[4] found in the Paddock Lane area of the town which comprises gold beads, a gold cross and a red garnet. Other stone artefacts are on display in the parish church of St Giles.

Middle Ages

Notable buildings in the town include the thirteenth century parish church. The Domesday Book of 1086 refers to Desborough, in modern-day Northamptonshire, as a 'place of judgement'. In fact the name itself is thought to have derived from 'Disburg', which meant a sacred and fortified place. In the High Street, as a centrepiece of what is now the Market Square, stands a pillar. Locals call it the Town Cross, despite it being a square column with a stone ball on top. It is perhaps better referred to as an obelisk. Its origins are thought to be a gateway pillar from Harrington Hall.

Location

Desborough is 8 km (5.0 mi) south-east of Market Harborough, 8 km (5.0 mi) north-west of Kettering and 8 km (5.0 mi) south-west of Corby. The Kettering Leg of the Student cross pilgrimage leaves from near Desborough every year. The A6 Rothwell-Desborough Bypass opened on 14 August 2003. Between 1857 and 1968, Desborough had a railway station, opened and operated by the Midland Railway, (later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and, after Nationalisation, British Rail), as part of the extension of a line from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin. It was closed in 1968 as part of the Beeching cuts.

St Giles Church

St Giles Church is the oldest surviving building in the town having been built in about 1225 AD. It is believed to stand on the site of an earlier Saxon church. Relics of the town's history including part of an Anglo-Saxon cross carved from stone, a Tudor rood screen and reminders of the Civil War. Close by the church is the 18th century Church House the 19th century Desborough House with its stucco and Doric pillars, now the Services Club.

On 7 September 1969 the Anglican (Church of England) and Methodist partnership was inaugurated in the presence of the Bishop of Peterborough and the Chairman of the Oxford District. Since that time a Methodist minister has been working in equal partnership with the Anglican vicar. St Giles is part of the United Benefice of Desborough and Brampton Ash with Braybrooke and Dingley.^[5]

St Giles has regular church festivals including one of the United Kingdom's longest running (since 1998) and largest (over 100 trees) Christmas Tree Festival. The trees are contributed by local organisations, companies, individuals and families.

In addition to the parish church there is a Baptist church,^[6] a United Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity.

The Old Manor House

The Old Manor House in Gold Street retains many features of its late 17th-century origins. Ferdinando Poulton, a Roman Catholic lawyer was Lord of the Manor, reputedly one of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators.

Notable residents

• Lewis Cave (1832–1897), a Queen's Bench judge, was born in Desborough.
• F. R. G. Heaf (1894–1973), the professor of medicine and tuberculosis researcher, was born in the town.
• Cecil Kilborn, the longstanding Bradford City footballer, was born in Desborough in 1902.
• Reggie Meen (1907–1984), British heavyweight boxer who won the British title in 1931.
• John Reynolds, a tinker also known as "Captain Pouch" and a leader of the 1607 anti-Enclosure Midland Revolt, was said to be from Desborough.
• Andy Sawford, Labour Party politician and Corby MP, was born in Desborough in 1976.
• Phil Sawford, Labour Party politician and Kettering MP, MP for Kettering 1997 - 2005.
• Jane West (1758–1852), novelist, poet and writer of conduct literature, was brought up in Desborough.
• Tony Wright (born 1948), political scientist, Labour Party politician and Cannock Chase MP (1997–2010), attended Desborough County Primary School.

Government and community

Desborough comes under Northamptonshire County Council and Kettering Borough Council, as well as having its own Town Council.^[7]

It is one of the founding 12 members of the Charter of European Rural Communities^[8] and through this has links with 26 other EU member towns and villages. Through the Desborough and District Twinning Association^[9] the town is twinned with Neuville de Poitou in the Vienne departement of France and with Bievre in Belgium.

The Desborough Community Development Trust campaigns for improvements to the town.

Employment

In the 17th century the town developed as a spinning and weaving centre. Using local wool and flax, the town's factories produced fine cloth and linen until the mid 19th century. Silk weaving then developed in a Paddock Lane factory.

To counter exploitation by agents and employers, local men founded the Desborough Co-operative Society in 1863. Starting with local shops and then a corset and lingerie factory, the Desborough Co-op still has a department store, a bank, a supermarket, a travel agents, a ladies' shoe and clothing shop and a couple of corner stores.

The former Co-op Corset Factory is now owned by Wacoal Eveden Ltd^[10] making lingerie and swimwear. The site includes the original Victorian factory and, immediately opposite, Eveden's warehousing and UK factory shop.

The former Co-operative Society Sports Ground with its football field and tennis courts is now the site of a major housing development called Desbeau Park. Desbeau was the name of one of the range of lingerie made at the Corset Factory.

The Desborough Co-op was recently purchased by the larger East Midlands Co-op who have since closed the bank and the ladies' shoe and clothing shop. They have also turned one of the corner shops into a funeral director's.

The former RS Lawrence's shoe factory site on the High Street was sold by the Midland Co-operative Society to Kettering Borough Council.

To the north of the Town, on the Harborough Road, is Rigid Containers which has just undergone a £4 million refurbishment.

Sport and leisure

Desborough has a Non-League football team Desborough Town F.C. who play at Waterworks Field. Desborough is home to a state of the art leisure complex, built in the later months of 2012, the leisure complex is home to a gym and café alongside the usual football court, basketball court and even an outside skate park.

Schools

There is one primary school and one infant/junior school in Desborough, Loatlands Primary School,^[11] Havelock Infants,^[12] and Havelock Junior^[13] but no secondary school so children aged 11–16 mostly attend Montsaye Academy in Rothwell.

New development

Several housing projects are currently taking place, such as "The Grange", a joint project by several house building companies, and Jelson Homes's "Carisbrooke Grange".

Magnetic Park is a project to build a business park in Desborough, most construction has been completed.^[14]

There were plans to build a Sainsburys near Magnetic Park but Kettering Borough Council’s planning committee turned down the company’s proposals. Committee members voted 4-3, with one abstention, against the plans.^[15] On 25 January 2012, the Council again rejected the plans by 7 to 1 votes, with one abstention.^[16]

Plans have been submitted to Kettering to redevelop the town centre Lawrence Factory site with a new Tesco store. In September 2011, Kettering published a report recommending approval of the Tesco plans, but the Planning Committee due to consider the application on 13 September 2011 was cancelled. On 25 January 2012, Kettering Borough Council voted unanimously to approve the plans.^[16]

In July 2014, Tesco announced publically that it was pulling out of the planned development of the former Lawrence site.As reported in local papers. Now the process begins again to find a suitable use for the site that both local residents and the councils can agree upon.^[17]

Magnetic Park is in the process of being developed for industrial use. It already holds an engineering firm and the Great Bear Distribution Centre. More recently planning permission has been granted to build a Waste to Energy Centre at Magnetic Park by Northamptonshire County Council.^[18] This plan was submitted by Origin Renewable Energy to build a two-stage gasification plant in order to supply local businesses and the new homes on Grange two with hot water. Municipal and commercial waste destined for landfill and not recyclable will be used. A Community Liaison Group(CLG) has been set up, four of its members have already visited a state of the art energy centre in Sarpsborg Norway. The Energos plant in Sarpsborg is of the type that is proposed for Desborough. Energos already operate 8 Energy Centres on main land Europe including one at Stavanger. The next stage is to obtain an environmental certificate. Work is planned to start in 2013 and be completed in 2015. A group of local residents under the name of 'Fresh Air for Desborough' is campaigning against this development.^[19]

References

External links

• Desborough Town Council website
• Desborough & District Twinning Association & Charter
• Desborough Flickr group - pictures of Desborough

Ceremonial county of Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Portal Boroughs or districts Corby Daventry East Northamptonshire Kettering Northampton South Northamptonshire Wellingborough Major settlements Brackley Burton Latimer Corby Daventry Desborough Higham Ferrers Irthlingborough Kettering Northampton Oundle Raunds Rothwell Rushden Thrapston Towcester Wellingborough See also: List of civil parishes in Northamptonshire Rivers River Avon River Cherwell River Great Ouse Harpers Brook River Ise River Nene Rains Brook River Tove River Welland Willow Brook Wooton Brook Canals Grand Union Canal Oxford Canal Topics European Parliament constituency Parliamentary constituencies Places SSSIs Country houses Flag Grade I buildings History Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs Schools Museums Soke of Peterborough Diocese of Peterborough